Miss Evans' Nephew
by Ebil
Summary: Petunia Evans never married Vernon Dursley. How will young Harry turn out without Vernon or Dudley Dursley in his life? AU
1. In which Petunia is not a Dursley

Petunia Evans wasn't the prettiest of all women nor the smartest, but if there was one thing she could be counted on for, it would be gossip. If you needed to know what the neighbors had for dinner last night or which house had the second best garden (of course hers would be the first), she was the one to ask. In her freshman year of college, she met young Vernon Dursley. Vernon was everything she ever wanted in a man, or so she thought. After a year of courtship, and one very unfortunate drunken night, Petunia's world was shattered. All the knowledge on the next door neighbors never prepared her for finding out how cruel Vernon could be. And so without so much as a goodbye, she left Vernon Dursley and continued on with her education. She graduated with a culinary degree and moved out of the house to a Number 4 Privet Drive.

Number 4 Privet Drive was everything she could have ever hoped for a house. Of course, she had always imagined living in such a house with a fine and _normal_ husband raising their adorable children. Maybe even own a cat or a dog, provided they were properly trained and never _ever_ sully her household. As it was, the house was entirely too large for her, but she didn't mind. Working at one of the top restaurants in Surrey paid for it and it was her dream house, she felt she deserved it.

A few years past by and Petunia was getting into a dull routine in her life and she didn't like it. Taking some of her earnings, she had the kitchen remodeled so that the kitchen was larger and had the best equipment she could afford- which was saying a lot since she had recently been promoted to the Head Chef, and the restaurant did have four and a half stars. But still, life was boring. Miss Evans had no time to spy on the neighbors, and as she worked all the time, she never really had the time to anyways.

'_If only there was something... or someone... '_ she wished one day. The next morning, she would learn the much said adage - Be careful what you wish for.

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**Nov. 1st, 0 A.V.**

Petunia wasn't having a good night. Her dreams of late rested on her dreaded sister. Her sister always was her parents favorite, and to top that off, her sister got married and had a child. Life was unfair. Her dreams this night, however, turn an odd turn which left Petunia startled and awake two hours before she was suppose to. It was one thing to despise your sister, but she didn't want her sister to die... at least, she didn't think she did. But they do say dreams are an extension of your subconscious.

Sighing, she turned off her alarm. She figured she might as well get up, there was no use trying to get back to sleep if her mind was filled with such thoughts. She quickly made to the master bathroom and took a shower. A half hour later she was dressed and ready to meet the day head on. That is, until she realized that she had today off.

"Well, at least it's a break from the pattern," she sighed, making her way down the stairs into the kitchen.

After fixing a simple breakfast, she went out to place the empty milk bottles but what she saw almost cause her to drop them in surprise. There, on the front steps of her house was a baby. A baby.

Petunia quickly set down the milk bottles and looked outside in every which direction, but the street was empty and there was no sign of anybody being there recently. She hesitantly looked at the bundle and picked it up. The baby was small, and appeared to be sleeping. She brushed her hand over the hair, which was midnight black and paused when she saw the scar. Emotions flittered through her mind: rage that a baby would have been injured, confusion that there was a baby on her doorsteps, and wonderment at the baby. She quickly brought the baby indoors, forgetting about the milk bottles at all, and brought the baby to the living room, sitting with it on the couch.

It was then that she noticed the letter tucked in the blankets. She paled when she realized it was written on parchment. The last time she had seen parchment was when her sister had left when they were 17... it was from that school of hers. She hesitantly picked up the parchment and opened it.

_Dear Miss Petunia Francis Evans,_

_I'm afraid there is no good way to put this and so I am forced to be blunt. Your sister, Lily Potter, and her husband, James, died last night leaving behind young Harry. Your sister died protecting her child, which is very strong magic in our world, from being killed by the Dark Lord Voldemort. While we don't know how it was done yet, young Harry managed to defeat Lord Voldemort. As his last living blood relative, he has to reside with you to hide him from those who wish to harm him. Your sister's sacrifice allowed us to place complex blood wards. The best I can explain it is that it is some invisible shield which will guard him and you from those dark wizards who would wish to kill him and, in turn, you._

_I know you and Lily we not on the best of terms, however it is of the upmost importance that you raise young Harry, love him like your own, as you are his only family left. Take care of young Harry, tell him of he parents. If you need anything, feel free to owl me and I'll be there as soon as I can._

_And do not fret about the cost of raising and caring for a young child, the Potters left a trust fund for those who would be responsible in raising him, the details being attached._

_Signed, Albus Dumbledore_

Petunia read the letter over a few times before it sunk in. Her sister was dead. She looked over at the baby, who had awaken while Petunia was reading, and she stared into the vivid green eyes. Green eyes looking around unsure of everything. Lily's Green Eyes. The emotions overwhelmed Petunia, and as hard as she tried, she just couldn't feel the hate she had for her sister in this young child.

Getting a hold of herself, she called a friend from work who had children and asked her to come over. She had no idea what she would need for a child. Would this child need milk or could it eat solids?

'_No, his name is Harry, not 'child'...I have to start thinking of him as Harry'_ she scolded herself. She sighed "Oh Lily, why did you have to go and do this? We were so close until _that_ year and then you left. And now you've gone and gotten yourself killed and left your chi- no, Harry." She choked back a sob. "What am I going to do?"

The baby just looked over at his Aunt. At the last question he gurgled in response.

Life as she knew it would change forever for Petunia Evans.


	2. Petunia Gets A Crash Course In Babies

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews :) And just to clarify, the A.V. I'm using for years stands for "After Voldemort" since I don't want to mess with actual years.

**Chapter 2: In Which Petunia Gets A Crash Course In Babies**

It was a half an hour before Petunia heard a polite knock at the door. '_Mrs. Cully, thank goodness'_ she thought, turning to the baby. She never did spend too much time learning about how to take care of babies. She had always figured she'd have months of pregnancy to learn and buy everything. Now she was regretting that idea more and more.

"Well, Harry, here we go. And... And try not to do that... Stuff... in front of Mrs. Cully" and with that, Petunia grabbed the baby, cradling it in her arms and went to the door.

"Miss Evans, it was delightful when you called me. Ah, and this must be the little man," Mrs. Cully practically cooed, parading into the house with a diaper bag in tow and a 12 year old daughter and then continued," Okay, Susan, here's the diaper bag, here's little Harry. Miss Evans should have some of her famous leftovers in her fridge. You know all the phone numbers? Good. Well, we'll be back by supper."

Mrs. Cully took the baby out of Petunia's arms and gave him to Susan Cully, and then grabbed Petunia and her purse, which was conveniently close by and then paraded out the door. It was the first time in her life that Petunia was struck speechless. She idly wondered what other 'firsts' she'd be doing now that she had a child to look after.

And while Mrs. Cully and Ms. Evans were out shopping, Harry and Susan were getting acquainted.

Never let it be said that Harry was a loud, obnoxious baby. He rarely ever cried. The most he had ever cried was the night before. He couldn't really comprehend what was going on. Yesterday, his mother and father were there playing and reading with him. This morning he woke up in a different house with a lady who wasn't his mother. And now there was a girl holding him and cooing to him, something about 'whittle cutie' and 'I could just eat you up'. Of course, he hoped that she wasn't really going to eat him up. So he stared up at her, studying her.

Eventually she pulled some toys out of a big bag next to her. "Does wittle Harry want to play with this?" she asked, waving around a child's xylophone toy. Harry looked at the toy with great curiosity. All his toys at home had a faint blue outline and this one didn't. He watched as she put the xylophone on the ground and then crawled down to it and looked at it in confusion. '_What am I suppose to do with this?'_

Seeing the apparent confusion on his face, Susan hastened to take the attached stick and hit one of the keys. The note startled Harry and caused him to pause in interest. That is, until Susan forced the stick into Harry's hand. Proceeding cautiously, he lightly tapped the contraption and heard a new note. As if spurred on by some higher force, he quickly tapped all the bright and colorful rectangles, noting the different sounds each made Susan just chuckled and took out a book from the bag and started to read it, after all, school waits for nobody.

Petunia arrived home around 3 o'clock with Mrs. Cully and a lot of purchases. She had to admit, it was fun to shop for a baby and already she was imagining the empty room, which was previously used for storage, as a cute little nursery. She'd just move all the boxes up to the attic. When the two women opened the door they were greeted by the sound of music. What astonished them was that Harry was the one making the music and instead of the normal child banging, he was playing the toy xylophone for all it was worth and it was a lovely song.

"Oh my word, that is remarkable, I wonder if his mother taught him that, maybe in a year or two you should sign him up for music lessons," said Mrs. Cully through an armful of bags.

Susan had heard this comment. She knew this was Harry's first time, otherwise the child wouldn't have been so confused when she first showed it to him and then proceeded to tell them that. This astonished both women. Mrs. Cully because she could hardly believe a child of Harry's age had never played with a toy xylophone, Petunia because she recognized the song as one her mother sang to her when she was little. '_Lily must have sung it to him, probably even last night_' The realization hit her hard as she realized for the first time that with this situation, it wasn't all about her and her sister, it was about Harry.

Quickly gaining her composure, she directed Mrs. Cully upstairs into the room next to hers. They quickly moved the boxes into the attic when the delivery truck arrived with all the new furniture. The room was already painted a sky blue and so they had decided on a sky theme for the room.

Two hours later, the room was complete and it was dinner time. She quickly invited the two Cully's to stay for dinner and whipped up a quick, but delicious, dinner. Grabbing a jar of baby food, Petunia quickly learned the ins and outs of feeding a child mashed carrots and peas. Not to say that Harry was a fussy eater, it's just that Petunia wasn't that experienced in playing 'airplanes' with the spoon, like his parents had.

The two Cullys left and it was just Harry and Petunia. Petunia, on Mrs. Cully's advice, decided to give Harry a bath and change his diaper before dressing him for bed. Searching through one of the bags not yet unpacked, she found the bath toys and shampoo she bought and brought them all upstairs with Harry in tow.

Bath time went without mishaps as Harry played with a rubber duck while Petunia washed him. Harry was still a bit confused at why the toys didn't have a faint blue outline, but without the means or want to communicate this, he just continued to push the duck around.

It wasn't until he was in pajamas and in his crib when the thought struck him that maybe he could make the outlines of his toys blue. He had once wanted his stuffed lion to jump and so he wished very hard and the blue outline around the toy became more distinct. Maybe he would try that tomorrow. But for now, he actually was rather tired, and so he quickly succumbed to sleep.

Harry wasn't the only one tired out, Petunia barely made it through her nightly routine before collapsing on the bed, wondering what she was going to do tomorrow when she had to go back to work.


End file.
